Apple Watch Series 7 Rumored With Sweet Display Upgrades, Future Extreme Sports Edition

We reported back in mid-May that the rounded shapes of the current Series 6 will be replaced by flat edges more in keeping with the design language of the iPhone 12, iPad Pro, and iMac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expands upon those rumors by saying that the Series 7 has thinner display bezels than its predecessor. Speaking of the display, Apple will reportedly use a new lamination process that will make the display appear closer to the display cover (Ion-X or sapphire in the higher-end models).

The Series 7 will be thicker than the Series 6, but the difference will be so slight that users won't notice. We can only hope that the added thickness will help to add battery life to the smartwatch. The current Series 6 can last roughly 1.5 to 2 days with light use, but it would be nice to see that runtime extended to maybe 3 days (although that might be wishful thinking).

Gurman alleges that the Series 7 will use a faster SoC under the hood on the hardware front, likely billed as the S7. Another hardware upgrade includes enhanced ultra-wideband (UWB) functionality, as seen on Apple's AirTags. Previously rumored glucose monitoring and body temperature sensing capabilities are reportedly not ready for this year's release and could instead be postponed until 2022 or later.

Finally, it's alleged that a new edition will join the Apple Watch family next year, which could be called "Adventure" or "Explorer." This model would allegedly ditch the easily scratched aluminum/stainless steel bodies of the current Apple Watch family with more rugged materials for those that are into extreme sports and outdoor activities.

The Apple Watch Series 7 should debut alongside the new iPhone 13 family this fall.